I am a true believer in what bitcoin has to offer the world at large, a world so much different from the one I grew up in. This world of ecommerce, where borders are simply lines on maps and the average child today is more culturally aware than the ambassadors of my day, needs a unifying currency beyond the greedy manipulation of governments and financial institutions. That said, we have to work as a community and accept that some of it's earliest adopters did so in an attempt to manipulate what they saw as an emerging market, rather than a true change in the way we do business on a global level. As a community, we are dependant on an exchange that has massive problems with reliability, and in all fairness has questionable allegiances. Ripple, a competing currency is controlled primarily by the founder of MtGox. I'm not suggesting that competition among crypto currencies is dangerous, but allowing someone with so clear a conflict of interest to hold such a vital role within the infrastructure is. Transparency is the mantra of Wall Street for a reason..... with so much money at stake it is foolish to trust in the motives of men. There needs to be some transparency to prevent the fleecing of honest investors. I think that in large part the recent panic was caused by a lack of trust brought on by this lack of transparency. I urge anyone serious about the long-term future of bitcoin not to trade on any exchange that is either unreliable or has a conflict of interest. There are options now, several in fact that are US based and completely above board, with stop loss orders and all the functionality one expects from a legitimate exchange. Spread the word, talk to anyone you know who trades bitcoins, we need to strengthen trust in this currency if it will survive. Thus far it is the strongest of the crypto currencies and that is not by accident, it has the strongest community, support, and most of it's proponents are true believers in what it can bring to the world: An end to corporate and governmental abuses of currency to enrich themselves at the expense of others.